Only the Worst
by FromTheCouncilOfTimeWizards
Summary: On a quest, Arthur and Merlin are forced to see each other's worst fears. Reveal!Fic
1. Fears

**AN: I own my minor OC and that's it. **

**This is going to be a short little story - four chapters, to be exact. They are mostly already written, so expect quick updates. **

**Also, anyone who's following If Only is not allowed to yell at me, because I wrote this to try and get rid of my writer's block. **

The sun trickled through the branches and speckled the ground on which two horses plodded across. One held a blonde man with a red cape that cascaded down his back, the other tall, lanky and black-haired, wearing a neckerchief and brown jacket.

"Do you actually know where this man is?" The servant asked.

"Of course, _Mer_lin," the king replied. "I told you this already."

"You said you knew the vague, general location," Merlin insisted.

Instead of responding, the king paused, a thoughtful frown on his face.

"That's not on the map," he said slowly. Merlin followed his gaze and saw a rickety bridge spanning a small ravine. It was not unlike the one Grettir had guarded on the way to the palace of the Fisher King.

Arthur pulled out one of the many maps in the pack strapped to his horse. Rolling it out, his eyes scanned it, examining the different landmarks closely.

"We should be around here," he said slowly, pointing to a spot, "because we just passed that lake there. But this looks like the only way across for several miles." Why wouldn't it have been marked? It seemed fairly important...

"Maybe it's more recent," Merlin said with a shrug.

"Look at the state of it! There's no way that thing is new," the king replied, eying the frayed ropes and splintering planks.

The warlock shrugged again. "So, it's not on the map. Must have been a slip up. Let's just go across it and see if we can find any of the other landmarks."

He started to urge his horse forward, then stopped. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and he stared around.

He sensed magic.

And then, before he could voice his suspicions to Arthur, a brown-haired woman in a green dress appeared out of nowhere right in front of the bridge.

Arthur's sword was out in heartbeat, the distrust he felt at any sign of magic flaring within him. For she was obviously magical, how else could she have appeared out of thin air?

To further prove his point, her eyes flashed and Arthur's sword disappeared.

"Who are you?" he demanded.

The woman did not seem perturbed by his less-than-welcoming tone. Her soft hazel eyes bore no malice, and she smiled an innocent smile at them. Still, the king regarded her with utmost suspicion.

"My name is Farah," she said cheerily. "And you are Arthur Pendragon, king of Camelot."

"How do you know my name?" Arthur said almost immediately, his wariness visibly growing.

"I know, that's all that matters," she said. "No need to look so worried, I'm not going to hurt you."  
He didn't look reassured. "What do you want, then?"

"Only to lend destiny a hand. It's been a rather long wait, thought I'd help by speeding things up a little."

At this, she gave Merlin a significant look, and he felt nervousness bordering on panic roil in his gut. Did she mean what he thought she meant? He tried to communicate silently, pleading with her to stop and just let them pass, but she ignored it.

_Be calm, Emrys. Do not worry so much. It may not end as badly as you think._

Arthur, oblivious as ever, looked even more confused. "And...what exactly does that mean?"

"Simple," Farah told him. "I will let you pass, but there is one thing you must do first - something you must both agree on."

"And that would be...?"

Farah smiled. "Allow me to show you both the other's worst fear."

The silence that followed was a tense one. Both king and servant stared at her in shock.

"That's a rather...personal request, isn't it?" Arthur said slowly.

Farah shrugged. "You don't have to. But it's my condition, and taking another route will add at least another day to your trip. And that's a while to leave your people who are suffering from a plague while you try and find the only one who can end it, is it not?"

The king visibly stiffened at this second blatant display of knowledge she should not have. He stared at her, apparently considering.

"Arthur, you can't actually be thinking of doing this-?"

"We may have no choice, Merlin," Arthur replied wearily. "I don't like it either, but she's right, the longer we delay, the more people suffer." He looked his servant in the eye. "I realize what she is asking of you. Can you do it for Camelot?"

Merlin deflated_._ _I'm being selfish_, he thought. Would he really allow more suffering to happen because he wanted to keep his secret?

He knew he had to do it. But that didn't shake the fear bubbling up in him. All he'd been expecting was the usual quest with Arthur. This...was so abrupt. He had mere moments to reconcile with the fact that Arthur was probably going to know his secret shortly.

But then the faces of those suffering from the foreign illness that had been brought from far off by a traveler entered his mind, along with Gaius' helpless explanation that he had no knowledge of how to cure it, and that he would have to find the healer from the place it originated from if Camelot wasn't to be wiped out. The disappointment when he realized the sickness was immune to his magic. He swallowed, trying and failing to quell his nerves.

He nodded.

Arthur noticed how pale Merlin was looking. He himself felt nervous. He always felt awkward whenever it came to sharing emotions. But, thinking about it, he suddenly realized something and turned back to Farah.

"I don't even know what my worst fear is." It seemed like he had so many...what was his worst?

"Don't worry," Farah replied. "The spell will know."

Arthur had suspected magic was going to be involved, but he still didn't like it. He frowned as Farah continued.

"And, of course, since everyone naturally fears their own death, you won't see the other dying, unless dying in a specific way is their fear. Also, your fear will probably be fairly vague, so a scenario will be created, and you will see it as though in a dream. For example, if someone were afraid of, say, fire, you wouldn't just see an image of a flame, but instead something like a situation where they were trapped in a burning building. If someone were afraid of drowning, you would not just see water but most likely see that person on a boat and then falling overboard and drowning."

She paused, and Arthur got the feeling she was about to add something unpleasant. He wasn't wrong.

"Unfortunately, you will literally be living it from their point of view, so you will hear their thoughts and feel their pain, both physical and emotional."

Both warlock and king cringed. "Fine," Arthur said gruffly. "Let's get this over with."

Looking satisfied, Farah motioned for them to stand in front of her, facing each other. She held a hand up to each of them, hovering slightly next to the sides of their heads, and her eyes glowed.

"Interesting," she murmured as the glow died down.

"What?" Merlin asked, trying to ignore the dryness of his mouth and the frantic thudding of his heart.

"You both have two very prominent fears...and there is one fear you share. I will show you the ones you don't have in common."

"Which fear do we share?" Arthur asked, genuinely curious.

She looked at him. "The fear that something bad will happen to those close to you because you failed to protect them."

The king couldn't help the slight shiver that ran down his spine. Yes, that was certainly a fear of his. He looked at his servant, who was paler than ever and couldn't help being slightly surprised that Merlin felt so strongly the same way. After all, it wasn't really his duty to protect anyone.

For the first time, Arthur felt a prickle of curiosity. What was his servant's greatest fear?

"Ready?"

He took a deep breath. He wasn't quite sure why he was this nervous. Pushing away his doubts, he nodded.

"Let's start with the king, shall we?"

Farah's eyes glowed, and Arthur was sucked into darkness.


	2. Arthur's worst fear

**AN: Nope, still not mine. **

**0.0 wow. Thank you all for the reviews/favs/follows after only the first chapter! You guys are awesome. **

**Now, when I started writing this, I had my own ideas of what Arthur and Merlin's worst fears would be. I'm sure many of you can think up other things they are more afraid of, but I chose these specific ones for the purpose of this fic. **

**Also, in the visions, the POV for this one is Merlin seeing it from Arthur's POV, but Arthur can also see it (hope I didn't just confuse you too much). The next chapter, in which they see Merlin's fear, is Arthur seeing it from Merlin's POV. **

**Anyway, enjoy!**

Merlin closed his eyes nervously as Farah began the incantation. He suddenly had the strange sensation of being sucked through a dark tunnel. Feeling slightly disoriented, he blinked his eyes open.

_He was in the throne room. A sword was at his throat and he was being forced to kneel. Looking up, his stomach churned. Morgana was sitting on the throne, a triumphant look on her face. A little ways away, Gwen, Merlin, Gaius and the knights were also being held at swordpoint. _

_"Morgana..." his voice was different than he was used to. "Please. Do whatever you wish with me, but let them go." _

_She smirked. "Why, Arthur, they were never in any danger from me." _

_He felt immensely relieved. At least until she spoke again and his world shattered. _

_"After all, why would I harm them if they were helping me?" _

_All the rest were released, and they pointedly ignored the king as they walked forward towards Morgana, not showing the slightest sign of fear. _

_Again. It was happening again. With all of them. Had he even ever had real friends at all? _

_"Guinevere?" he said, his voice cracking. _

_She turned her beautiful face to him, and there was no sympathy in it. _

_"Oh dear," chuckled Morgana. "It seems he's still under the impression you love him."_

_Gwen snorted, and Arthur felt the shards of what had once been his heart crack again. _

_"Gaius?" _

_The old man shrugged. "What can I say, Arthur, I'd rather Morgana was queen." His indifference to Arthur's pain was so clear. The cracked shards splintered. _

_"Leon? Elyan? Gwaine? Percival?" They were knights of Camelot, surely they would see sense?_  
_But they shook their heads. "We will not serve a king who cannot protect his own kingdom," Leon said coldly. "We serve the Lady Morgana now." The splintered shards were reduced to tinier pieces. _

_Finally, trembling uncontrollably now, he turned towards Merlin. Merlin, the one person he trusted the most. He wouldn't believe it. Merlin and his insanely strong loyalty would never betray him...right?_

_"Merlin?" He was aware the whisper was pleading, but he was beyond caring. _

_Merlin, of course, being the girl he was, was the only one who looked sympathetic. Sympathetic, but not sorry. _

_"Sorry, Arthur. Looks like you're on your own on this one." _

_The shards were reduced to ash._

_On his own. Yes, that's what he was. Because he had no one left. They had all betrayed him. He had trusted so foolishly..._

_And now, all he would get for his trust, his friendship, was the rest of his life in his own dungeons. _  
_Alone._

Merlin jerked away from the rush of emotions from the dream. He suddenly realized his cheeks were wet. He took a steadying breath and shook his head as though trying free it from the onslaught of pain.

He looked at Arthur, who hadn't moved. He had clearly seen the vision too, for he was standing, apparently frozen in his spot, his eyes wide and staring as though he could still see all his friends bowing to Morgana, horror radiating from him. Merlin understood his fear instantly. Arthur had already been betrayed by two of the people closest to him, and he couldn't help fearing that others would betray him as well.

"Arthur."

The king didn't react.

"_Arthur_."

The royal blinked, finally focusing on his servant. And Merlin suddenly realized that there was uncertainty in his gaze. The vision had affected him so much, he was actually wondering if Merlin was secretly betraying him now. Merlin hadn't realized just how badly past betrayals ha affected his friend.

"Arthur, it was just a vision. It's not real, remember? None of us would ever do that. We're not all Agravaine or Morgana."

Some of the tension left his master, but he still looked deeply troubled.

"Arthur. It's me, Merlin. I promise, that dream you just had will never become reality."

Arthur just closed his eyes and nodded jerkily, but Merlin saw that his words were sinking away and driving away some of the uncertainty.

Farah had stepped back to give them a moment, but now she came forward again.

"Let's do Merlin's now, shall we?"


	3. Merlin's worst fear

**AN: I don't own Merlin...but, you know, if the BBC wanted to give it to me, I'd be ok with that. **

**Sorry for the delay! I tweaked some things in this chapter and had some internet problems so I couldn't post it.  
**

Merlin had been so caught up in the vision of Arthur's fear that he had forgotten about his own. His heart seized up with terror as Farah began to recite the spell once more. But before he could do anything, he was once again sucked down into darkness and emerged in another dream.

Arthur was still shaken slightly after the last vision, but his curiosity peaked again. As the sorceress began to speak the incantation a second time, he felt a prickle of guilt that he was so eager to see his friend's worst nightmare.

_The nobleman grinned evilly. "Well, well...seems like someone's finally discovered me." _

_"I will not let you hurt Arthur," Merlin said firmly, still breathing hard slightly. They were in Arthur's chambers, Merlin had just realized that the visiting lord was a sorcerer planning to kill Arthur and had arrived just in time. _

_"Oh, and I suppose I little servant like you's gonna stop me? His father killed my brother! All for a harmless magic trick."_

_"Arthur is not his father," Merlin replied. _

_"Of course he is!" The man spat. "And I will not let a little twerp like you get in my way. _Akwele forbearnan_!" _

_The fireball materialized in the man's palm. Merlin remembered a similar one all too well, and wasn't keen on experiencing it again. _

_"_Scildan_!" _

_The fireball dissolved in front of his shield. _

_The fake noble stared. "You..." his face suddenly twisted in rage. "How dare you! How dare you go against your kin to save a man who would have us both dead?" _

_"Magic will never be legal if all Arthur sees of magic is people using it to attack him," Merlin retorted. "Who's really betraying their kind?"_

_"You fool! _Forp Fleoge_!" _

_Merlin flew backwards and collided painfully with Arthur's wall. Staggering to his feet, he desperately cast around for something to do. If he hadn't been so caught up in the fight, he might have paid more attention to the movement he saw in the corner of his eye. Before the sorcerer could do anything, his eyes glowed and Arthur's helmet flew off his table and hit the man over the head, knocking him out.  
_

_"Merlin?"_

_He froze, then turned slowly. Arthur was sitting up in his bed, staring at him. He had seen the whole thing. _

_"Arthur, I can explain - "_

_The king was out of bed, sword was at Merlin's throat in an instant. _

_"Sorcerer." _

_The word was spat with such hatred, such revulsion, and it stung as though Arthur had flung acid in his face._

_"Arthur-"_

_"You lied to me! You're a sorcerer. You're evil!"_

_The words made it feel like it had been him who had been stabbed in the chest. "No, Arthur-"_

_"GUARDS!" _

_Two of the guards appeared almost instantly. _

_"Take this sorcerer to the dungeons. He is to be executed tomorrow at dawn. Ready the pyre." _

_No. Not the pyre. Anything but the pyre..._

_"Arthur!" He yelled desperately. "Listen to me! I didn't...he was trying to kill you...I would never-" In his desperation, he twisted and tried to lunge from the grip of the guards. The sword returned to his throat. _

_"Not another word, traitor." _

_He had never seen Arthur glare at anyone with that much malice. He couldn't stand to see that look of disgust, of loathing. But staring at his king, he realized something else was there. _

_Fear. Arthur feared him.  
_

_He went limp, all the fight gone from him at this realization, and allowed the guards to drag him down to the dungeons. _

_Gaius came to see him, of course. He could tell it was hard on the physician, but he made it clear that Gaius should not reveal that he knew. It would not save him or make him feel any better if Gaius were to burn alongside him. _

_He couldn't sleep. How could he? He had failed, and as soon as he was dead, the sorcerer was going to kill Arthur. He could escape, but what was the point? He would be caught eventually, and even if he wasn't, he wouldn't be able to come close enough to the castle to protect him regularly. _

_A sense of hopelessness came over him. Arthur would not survive without him..._

_Suddenly, he heard more people enter the dungeons. He watched, confused, as what looked like a group of ordinary people was ushered into the cell opposite him. There was a woman, two men, and even a child. _

_Then he saw something, and everything made awful sense. They had druidic marks on their skin. They were druids. His panic rose even higher. No...this, he couldn't stand. He had always tried to harden himself in case Arthur did, in fact, hate him once he found out. He never expected to like it, and the pyre had haunted his nightmares, but he had always known it would be a possibility. But this..._

_He had sparked another Purge. Arthur was rounding up magic users even now._

_The child started to cry. The adults did their best to comfort her, but what could they say? _

_"I'm sorry," he whispered through the bars. "I have failed you." _

_He was unable to ignore their accusing stares. They were right. He was supposed to have saved them. _

_Instead, they would burn with them. _

_He didn't know whether he was scared or grateful when dawn came. Death by burning in the middle of the courtyard had always been his fear, but...he was so tired. Tired of the hiding, the pain, the suffering in silence. Tired of the not knowing whether his efforts would amount to anything, or if Arthur would ever accept him for who he was.  
_

_Well, he had his answer.  
_

_Arthur stood at the balcony, hard-faced and impassive. He delivered a strong speech about the evils of magic, and for a moment, he didn't see Arthur, but Uther once more, blinded by his hate that he had infected his son with. _

_The pyre was lit. _

_As the heat grew closer, he looked out at the crowd. Some of them, like Arthur, had clearly turned against him, others, like Gwen, were crying. Gaius observed with stony-faced silence, and he winced. He'd hoped Gaius wouldn't watch, but of course he had. He wished he could comfort them. _

_And then the flames were in front of him, a creature readying itself to climb his legs, making him scream for all of Camelot to hear..._

"NOOOO!"

Arthur hadn't even realized he'd yelled. He jerked away, breaking the spell. The sudden sensation of being sucked back into reality made his legs buckle.

Beside him, Merlin had already collapsed.

**So...I know his fear was pretty predictable. I almost changed it to something else, and then I tried to incorporate it into the original, but it didn't work quite as well. I kind of wanted Merlin's fear to be that he would go to far in protecting Arthur, become a killer, being twisted by his destiny so that he wasn't himself anymore. **

**Anyway, what do you think? I'll have the next(and last) chapter up soon!**


	4. Aftermath

**AN: Still don't own. **

**Last chapter! Sorry for the delay. I was pretty tired when I finished this, so I'm not sure how it turned out. Hope you like it though. I got a review suggestion I add in a part about Merlin's scars, so I did - I like fics that include his scars.**

It had been disorienting, to say the least, to be about to be burnt to a crisp and suddenly the spell is broken and someone next to you is yelling. The sensation resembled that of being syanked suddenly backwards through a dark tunnel. The nauseating effect of seeing his worst nightmares played out mixed with that was enough to make Merlin's knees buckle, and he found himself suddenly on the grassy ground. A few moments later, he sensed someone next to him had sank to his knees. He realized a moment later that was Arthur.

Arthur...oh Gods, _Arthur_...

The king, for his part, was in a state of complete shock. Never would he have imagined that what had seemed like the simple task of watching Merlin's worst fear would lead to this. This knowledge that his mind was rejecting, declaring that it must be false.

But his fear had been dead-on. So Merlin's must have been true as well...

Logically, he should be angry. He should be raging and furious and demanding that Merlin come clean about everything. But then the image of his own rage-filled face filled his mind, along with Merlin's complete and utter terror that followed. And he came to the sickening realization that it would be so, so easy to make Merlin's fear come true. To make him feel that paralyzing horror, not just for his own life, but for their friendship and for the future of Camelot.

His emotions were not organized. They did not lay themselves out neatly for him, making it easier. They swirled and clashed in his head, fighting for his attention. One moment he'd be feeling horrified that he had trusted and, dare he say it, befriended a sorcerer, but less than a heartbeat later he'd register disgust at his actions in Merlin's vision and the pain he'd brought his servant.

Answers. He needed answers. How much had Merlin lied? What had he done that Arthur hadn't noticed? And, most importantly, had he been stupid not to notice?

Because, no matter how much Arthur wanted to believe that Merlin was the exception, that maybe he really could be trusted, the fact remained that he had lied. And even though the vision had assured him that Merlin held no obvious malice towards him, he wasn't sure if he could trust the man again.

No sooner had he registered that burning desire for information did he realize something. He felt a little tugging at his conscious and realized that, though he had broken the dream connection, there was still a trace of it left; a thin thread connecting their minds.

Without thinking, he dove headfirst into Merlin's mind.

Farah, being the source of the connection and was still trying to recover from the sudden tearing of it, sensed what he was about to do and cried out a warning, but it was too late.

It was even worse than being in his own head. He had access to Merlin's entire life, but had no way of searching for anything in particular. He could only stand, paralyzed, as Merlin's memories whizzed by him, for, unlike Farah, he was not trained in working through other's thoughts. His servant's whole life seemed to have been compressed into a frenzied storm that he was now caught in.

Faces flew by him. He recognized Will, Hunith, the knights, even a little boy he saw down in the market sometimes, selling his rough wooden carvings. They often had emotions associated with them. It brought a whole new meaning to the phrase 'mood swings.' The sight of Gaius brought about fatherly affection; the knights, a warm burst of friendship. Those weren't so bad. But then out of nowhere would come Morgana's face, and he would recieve a rush of regret, guilt, and wariness for what she had become. He saw a woman who looked vaguely familiar for some reason, and she brought about feelings of love and terrible grief. Balinor as well brought him to tears when his face was accompanied by a near unendurable sense of loss.

_Help_! he thought desperately. He tried to focus on the next face that came by him, hoping to stop the torrent of memories and emotions.

To his surprise, the storm calmed. The faces slowed to images and became full memories. They still came rapidly, but less so, enough for him to get his bearings slightly first.

_The face he had focused on was Morgause, and he saw her stooping to look at him, looking smug. There was an uncomfortable tightness around his torso, and he realized he was chained. Morgause had him captured. She was speaking, and then she left. Time seemed to be going faster than usual, for the sky soon darkened more quickly than was natural. He felt a burning sense of urgency, Morgause was planning to attack Camelot and he needed to get free to he could save his friends, but a rustling sound echoed around him and he was suddenly surrounded by serkets. He frantically tried to keep them at bay, but suddenly a barb embedded itself in his back, and a searing fire spread through him from the spot on his back that radiated raw agony. His stomach churned and his head pounded, but he forced himself to remain conscious and fighting, he couldn't leave Arthur and Camelot defenseless._

_It switched suddenly. It was night again, and Cedric was standing before him surrounded by unconscious figures. No, not Cedric...Sigan, who was possessing Cedric. Sigan, the powerful sorcerer of legend, was offering to take over the world with him. They could rule the world, and despite himself he found himself picturing a world where he was in charge, where he could secure his friends' safety, where he wouldn't have to hide. But then Sigan spoke delightfully of having Arthur trembling at his feet, and he didn't want that. Which he told Sigan, firmly. _

_It changed yet again. Uther lay on his bed, his breathing weak, but he held his bundle of herbs tightly and spoke the words of the Old Religon. He felt confident; he could feel the healing magic working. When Uther opened his eyes, he felt like whooping and jumping in the air(though that probably wouldn't have worked well in his current disguise). He'd done it. He'd saved Uther, and now Arthur would forever remember that magic had saved his father. One day, Arthur would free him. _

_Then Uther made a sound of pain and his eyes fluttered closed, and all his hope crashed right through the floor, panic taking its place. He watched numbly as Arthur checked and pronounced the king dead. "No..." he found himself saying. He had been sure, so sure it had worked...time seemed to blur together again, and suddenly, he was looking as Arthur sat, staring at a point he couldn't see, informing his servant that he would never again forget that magic took both his parents, oblivious to his servant's own pain. _

_The scene dissolved and solidified, and he and Morgana were alone in the hall. His heart was pounding so loud he was surprised she didn't hear it as she unknowingly downed the poison. His back was to her, he couldn't stand to watch this. He cursed his magic, his destiny, his fate-bound duty to protect Camelot. It's to save Arthur and Camelot, he told himself. But it didn't stop pain from shooting through his heart as she started to wheeze for breath. He turned in spite of himself, forcing himself to look her in the eyes. They were full of betrayal. Tears now mingled with his sweat. He bent down, reaching towards her, but she pushed him away. He wrapped his arms around her as she lay dying, trying to tell her, without words, how sorry he was, for he didn't trust himself to speak. _

_Another memory. More and more came, filling him with more pain, more loss. He watched friends die, he watched himself tormented by the bullies of Ealdor who teased him for having no father, he watched his friend unknowingly call him evil, he felt the pain of being inches from death until the tiny part of him in the back of his mind that turned back into Arthur in between memories was desperately wishing he knew how to stop it. _

_When the world around him began to shift again, he wasn't sure how much more he could take. But when the world came back into focus, he felt a feeling of...contentment. He was sitting on a horse, the prince in front of him. Beside him rode Gwaine, Percival, Lancelot, Elyan and Leon. They were returning from saving a village from a particularly nasty magical beast, and their hearts were light with triumph. The knights were smiling as he traded insults with the prince, snickering when he made a particularly snarky comeback. Whenever he did so, the prince looked back to glare at him, but he couldn't quite hide the fondness. _

_He wasn't Emrys right now. He wasn't 'that serving boy' to the prince. He was just Merlin. And Merlin had friends. Arthur wasn't his charge, he was his brother. And, though it wasn't neccessary at the moment, he would give his life for him in a heartbeat._

Suddenly, he felt the now-familiar sensation of being sucked through a tunnel. He blinked, finding himself still kneeling in the grass. Farah was looking irritated.

"Yeah, I bet that wasn't fun," she grumbled, seeing his shellshocked face. "Do you know how long it takes to learn to be able to pick a certain thought or memory out of someone else's mind? It takes some serious training! You can't just dive into someone's mind, everyone's mind is different. You can't make sense of it unless you know how. You're lucky I found you and was able to pull you out."

The king was hardly listening. He was staring down at the warlock who still hadn't moved, but Arthur saw the fear on his face...but that wasn't all. There was also confusion in his expression. Arthur suddenly realized his cheeks were wet.

All that...Merlin had done all that for him? He remembered, with painful clarity, the unwavering loyalty with which he repeatedly gave himself up to danger to protect Arthur. The memory of Uther's firm declarations of the evils of magic came to his mind, but they seemed rather feeble in comparison to what he had just seen. He had nothing to fear from Merlin...except, perhaps, that Merlin might get himself killed.

"Was that..." his voice sounded hoarse, and he cleared his throat. "Was all of that real?"

Merlin nodded slowly, still trying to gauge his reaction.

To the servant's surprise, Arthur reached out and pulled his shirt up slightly. There it was. The huge, red scar that took up a good portion of skin on Merlin's front, among a few other, smaller scars. Proof that at least one of the memories had been real. Arthur remembered with the clarity the fireball that had crashed into his(while he was seeing from Merlin's perspective) chest, but the memory had changed before the adrenaline had worn off, and the king could only imagine how much it had hurt on the way back to Camelot.

He turned Merlin over, and the servant offered no resistant. The king shuddered at the hideous mark on the warlock's upper back. He remembered the poison coursing through him like fire, scorching his veins...

Merlin gently pulled his shirt back down and stood. Arthur did the same. Merlin still looked slightly nervous, but more determined now, apparently encouraged by the fact that Arthur hadn't started yelling.

"Arthur, I would hope you would have noticed, what with having seen my memories, but I would never use my magic against you or Camel-"

He broke off as he was suddenly drawn into a tight hug.

"Oh, you idiot," the king sighed, sounding sad, "what am I going to do with you?"

Merlin let out a shaky laugh. "Don't kill me?"

Arthur flinched as he drew back from the hug. He still remembered the paralyzing terror the thought of burning at the stake by way of execution held over his friend and wondered how the servant could joke about it. Now that he knew everything - well, almost everything, he was sure he hadn't covered everything in a few minutes - he felt even worse about the fact that it had been him that had caused Merlin to feel such fear.

"I suppose that's a reasonable request. I suppose I do owe you."

Merlin smiled, a wide, radiant, infectious smile that made Arthur grin in response.

"Thank you," he whispered, tears now welling in his own eyes. He knew his master's joking tone meant everything would be fine.

"I think I should be saying that to you," the king replied. "Mind you, I'm still going to expect a full explanation." He was still uneasy, he was still greatly hurt that Merlin hadn't told him, but he had seen how Merlin had carried the risk of death with him all his life, and how he had been raised to know that secrets meant survival.

Just like he had been raised to think anyone magical was evil.

His servant nodded. They stood there for a moment in silence, processing what had just happened.

"Shall we continue on the quest, sire?"

Arthur blinked. He had completely forgotten their mission. "Of course."

It was then that they looked around and realized Farah had disappeared. Shrugging, Arthur went back for their horses. A glow of Merlin's eyes and the bridge was fit for them to ride across, and they continued on their way, Merlin absolutely glowing with happiness that a huge weight had been lifted from him.

Meanwhile, a sorceress smiled smugly as she watched the scene between the Once and Future King and Emrys in her scrying crystal.

**What do you think? Was Arthur fairly accurate? **


End file.
